In the final months of 2015, market reports showed that Manhattan’s median sales price hit a record high and that office leasing activity was sluggish.
Fourth-quarter residential sales
New median price records were set Downtown, on the Upper West Side, Midtown East and Midtown West. Also, nearly 24 percent of all residential inventory was priced over $3 million. Read the full report here.
Manhattan’s median sales price reached a record high of $1.15 million, a 17 percent jump from the previous quarter and the highest price in 27 years. Read the full report here.
The number of pending sales grew slightly from the third quarter while the number of properties sold was down quarter-over-quarter and year-over-year. Read the full report here.
Average and median priest set new records in the final quarter. Condos represented 50 percent of all sales, the highest level since the first quarter of 2009. Read the full report here.
Fourth-quarter office leasing
Manhattan leasing activity slowed in the final months of the year. Tenants signed leases for 36.2 million square feet, a 13 percent decline from last year. Read the full report here.
Leasing activity may have slowed in the final three months, but the office market ended above the 10-year average. Class A asking rents averaged $75.49 per square foot and were highest in Chelsea at $115.79 per square foot.
Rental rates were down for the first time in 2015, and Midtown South saw the sharpest decline in asking rents. Read the full report here.
JLL
Tech leasing leveled off in 2015, after reaching peak levels in 2014. Average rents in Midtown South, an area largely home to tech tenants, are at an all-time high and available space is limited. Read the full report here.